Summary:
The article I found is called “Hip Hop’s New Steps- Jerking” by the New York
Times online newspaper. This article focuses on one particular dance craze called jerking; Created in Los Angeles. The dance involves some familiar moves but in essence is purely original. Jerks, those prone to jerking, launched this movement humbly with decent, homemade videos on the streets of L.A.. The rest is history. These videos became extremely popular on youtube and different jerk crews began popping up around the country hoping to show the world their talent in this new art. With such popularity big businessmen realized this culture was quite marketable. Warner Brothers/Asylum and Interscope began to sign jerking artists so that jerks could have a soundtrack to their lives and their own personal musical genre. Beyond music and dance, jerks have also developed their own style which is also pushing the envelop. Skinny jeans, gaudy jewelry and cartoon memorabilia. The question lies now is whether jerking culture will last or is it just a trend?
Response:
Most of the article I understood quite well because I too am quite entranced with this culture. What I always have wondered that the article does not touch on is who in fact invented jerking. I am familiar with many of the popular jerk crews but I have yet to hear any person/ group claim creator to this viral fad. I find this interesting so am prompted to do more research in this area. I liked the New Boyz member, Ben J’s comment on jerking and how it brought fun back to hip-hop because it really does allow and encourage proactive participation with music. I also like that the author included much commentary from celebrity jerks because you get more of an inside perspective.
Usefulness:
The text is very useful. I knew that I wanted to study online dance trends because I follow them myself and if accompanied with a certain genre of music you can learn a lot about artist perspective. The problem I had is I didn’t think their would be much research in this area but you can’t get more legitimate that the New York Times. I liked the article so much that I decided right after I read it this had to be my topic. It gives a really accurate depiction of what jerking means to the people who know and love it, like myself. However, it also works in the context of this class because the rise of jerking would be impossible without the internet. Malaika Dupree-Walker
Instructor Kittle
English 130P-11/19
February 20, 2010 Wikispace Annotation # 2 http://www.diigo.com/09hlh
Summary: I annotated Virginia Heffernan’s article, “The Breakthrough of That Dance Video, the Future of Youtube and the Wisdom of Google” by the New York Times. Heffernan’s article analyzes the success of the “Evolution of Dance Video” by Judson Laipply which has been viewed over 34million times. The article goes on to say that there is nothing particularly special about the video besides Laipply corky dance moves but it has broader appeal on a deeper level. Heffernan describes the content of the video saying there is, “No talking. No dialogue, no voice-over, no monologue. No language but lyrics. That’s it’s secret: it’s a silent movie. With a soundtrack”. This she argues is why this video and dance videos like it have been so successful on youtube. There is no language barrier in dance and even music one doesn’t understand can be appreciated. Heffernan’s final point is that text will not universalize the web icons, images and film will. She enforces this sentiment by stating, “and, above all, why Google didn’t overpay for YouTube — is video”.
Response: At first I didn’t see how this article fit my topic but after marinating on its content I realized it was very applicable. Though Heffernan doesn’t specifically talk about dance trends she does talk about dance video and it’s ability to appeal to a broader audience. Dancing is something easily understood cross-culturally and therefore more inclusive of more people. This article also specifically addresses youtube as a world connector and new way to embrace diversity- in this case through dance.
Usefulness: I find this article useful to my research because it puts emphasis on the marriage of youtube and dance video as a new way to connect globally. Where as at first I saw my project centered on American dance trends alone. I didn’t think my topic necessarily needed a world perspective but this article presented me with a new angle. Dance is less discriminative than other language based videos and that could be a cause of it’s popularity of youtube. This is common sense but not something I thought of previously because I have never followed any dance trends outside the U.S. I am now curious to explore deeper and find dance trends more foreign than I imagined.
Malaika Dupree-Walker Instructor Kittle English 130-19/11 March 03/10/10
Summary:
I annotated “Tecktonik uses Web to market lifestyle born in dance movement” by The New York Times. This article describes the French originated dance sensation Tecktonik. The movement’s crafter was club promoter Barouzdin who wanted to keep the style of dance limited to his “Tecktonik” themed parties. The dance hit cyberspace in 2007 and gained international success on youtube developing a huge following. Barouzdin is still currently trying to protect his Tecktonik brand by registering the trademark, 2002 in France and 2007 in the United States. Tecktonik’s fan base is still growing online and companies such as Reebok, French television station TF1, and Wii have Tecktonik centered productions in the works.
Response:
I really like this article for a lot of reasons. One, it was the first actually informative article I found on a non- American online dance trend. I initially wanted to research the Jamaican dance trend “Passa Passa” but besides YouTube videos was not able to find any resourceful information. Still wanting a non-American dance trend I searched for international online dance trends on Google. After some filtering I found this article. I searched Tecktonik on Youtube and instantly fell in love with the dances’ character. From there I knew I had to incorporate it. Tecktonik sounds like masheduped techno/hip-hop with a lot of lightshow flaring hand movements and break dancing footwork. The dance is also engaging because it dance because it’s fast and energetic and all the dancers seem really inspired . Two, this article really made me question the mass distribution of such underground fads. How do creators of such movements remain autonomous without getting outshined by imitators or bought out by big corporations? Three, how does the adoption of these dance trends by the mainstream affect fans? These are all questions I want to explore more. Questions of this nature also make me want to investigate previous online trends and if their mass marketing had anything to do with there decline.
Usefulness:
This article was useful because it brought a lot of questions to my brain about the marketing of online dance trends. Dance videos from a small culture become international dance trends. Companies and manufacturers flock to new markets and these creative dances become marketable production sponsors. Creators such as Barouzdin is trying to maintain the rights of his movement by patenting its name. In this case copyright issues are arising from online dance trends. I never thought of these cases before and it make me wonder whether the scope of these dances popularity decides their success .
Wikispace Annotation #1
__http://www.diigo.com/09d2e__
__http://www.diigo.com/09d2k__
Summary:
The article I found is called “Hip Hop’s New Steps- Jerking” by the New York
Times online newspaper. This article focuses on one particular dance craze called jerking; Created in Los Angeles. The dance involves some familiar moves but in essence is purely original. Jerks, those prone to jerking, launched this movement humbly with decent, homemade videos on the streets of L.A.. The rest is history. These videos became extremely popular on youtube and different jerk crews began popping up around the country hoping to show the world their talent in this new art. With such popularity big businessmen realized this culture was quite marketable. Warner Brothers/Asylum and Interscope began to sign jerking artists so that jerks could have a soundtrack to their lives and their own personal musical genre. Beyond music and dance, jerks have also developed their own style which is also pushing the envelop. Skinny jeans, gaudy jewelry and cartoon memorabilia. The question lies now is whether jerking culture will last or is it just a trend?
Response:
Most of the article I understood quite well because I too am quite entranced with this culture. What I always have wondered that the article does not touch on is who in fact invented jerking. I am familiar with many of the popular jerk crews but I have yet to hear any person/ group claim creator to this viral fad. I find this interesting so am prompted to do more research in this area. I liked the New Boyz member, Ben J’s comment on jerking and how it brought fun back to hip-hop because it really does allow and encourage proactive participation with music. I also like that the author included much commentary from celebrity jerks because you get more of an inside perspective.
Usefulness:
The text is very useful. I knew that I wanted to study online dance trends because I follow them myself and if accompanied with a certain genre of music you can learn a lot about artist perspective. The problem I had is I didn’t think their would be much research in this area but you can’t get more legitimate that the New York Times. I liked the article so much that I decided right after I read it this had to be my topic. It gives a really accurate depiction of what jerking means to the people who know and love it, like myself. However, it also works in the context of this class because the rise of jerking would be impossible without the internet.
Malaika Dupree-Walker
Instructor Kittle
English 130P-11/19
February 20, 2010
Wikispace Annotation # 2
http://www.diigo.com/09hlh
Summary: I annotated Virginia Heffernan’s article, “The Breakthrough of That Dance Video, the Future of Youtube and the Wisdom of Google” by the New York Times. Heffernan’s article analyzes the success of the “Evolution of Dance Video” by Judson Laipply which has been viewed over 34million times. The article goes on to say that there is nothing particularly special about the video besides Laipply corky dance moves but it has broader appeal on a deeper level. Heffernan describes the content of the video saying there is, “No talking. No dialogue, no voice-over, no monologue. No language but lyrics. That’s it’s secret: it’s a silent movie. With a soundtrack”. This she argues is why this video and dance videos like it have been so successful on youtube. There is no language barrier in dance and even music one doesn’t understand can be appreciated. Heffernan’s final point is that text will not universalize the web icons, images and film will. She enforces this sentiment by stating, “and, above all, why Google didn’t overpay for YouTube — is video”.
Response: At first I didn’t see how this article fit my topic but after marinating on its content I realized it was very applicable. Though Heffernan doesn’t specifically talk about dance trends she does talk about dance video and it’s ability to appeal to a broader audience. Dancing is something easily understood cross-culturally and therefore more inclusive of more people. This article also specifically addresses youtube as a world connector and new way to embrace diversity- in this case through dance.
Usefulness: I find this article useful to my research because it puts emphasis on the marriage of youtube and dance video as a new way to connect globally. Where as at first I saw my project centered on American dance trends alone. I didn’t think my topic necessarily needed a world perspective but this article presented me with a new angle. Dance is less discriminative than other language based videos and that could be a cause of it’s popularity of youtube. This is common sense but not something I thought of previously because I have never followed any dance trends outside the U.S. I am now curious to explore deeper and find dance trends more foreign than I imagined.
Malaika Dupree-Walker
Instructor Kittle
English 130-19/11
March 03/10/10
Annotated Bibliography # 3
__http://www.diigo.com/09t7b__
Summary:
I annotated “Tecktonik uses Web to market lifestyle born in dance movement” by The New York Times. This article describes the French originated dance sensation Tecktonik. The movement’s crafter was club promoter Barouzdin who wanted to keep the style of dance limited to his “Tecktonik” themed parties. The dance hit cyberspace in 2007 and gained international success on youtube developing a huge following. Barouzdin is still currently trying to protect his Tecktonik brand by registering the trademark, 2002 in France and 2007 in the United States. Tecktonik’s fan base is still growing online and companies such as Reebok, French television station TF1, and Wii have Tecktonik centered productions in the works.
Response:
I really like this article for a lot of reasons. One, it was the first actually informative article I found on a non- American online dance trend. I initially wanted to research the Jamaican dance trend “Passa Passa” but besides YouTube videos was not able to find any resourceful information. Still wanting a non-American dance trend I searched for international online dance trends on Google. After some filtering I found this article. I searched Tecktonik on Youtube and instantly fell in love with the dances’ character. From there I knew I had to incorporate it. Tecktonik sounds like masheduped techno/hip-hop with a lot of lightshow flaring hand movements and break dancing footwork. The dance is also engaging because it dance because it’s fast and energetic and all the dancers seem really inspired . Two, this article really made me question the mass distribution of such underground fads. How do creators of such movements remain autonomous without getting outshined by imitators or bought out by big corporations? Three, how does the adoption of these dance trends by the mainstream affect fans? These are all questions I want to explore more. Questions of this nature also make me want to investigate previous online trends and if their mass marketing had anything to do with there decline.
Usefulness:
This article was useful because it brought a lot of questions to my brain about the marketing of online dance trends. Dance videos from a small culture become international dance trends. Companies and manufacturers flock to new markets and these creative dances become marketable production sponsors. Creators such as Barouzdin is trying to maintain the rights of his movement by patenting its name. In this case copyright issues are arising from online dance trends. I never thought of these cases before and it make me wonder whether the scope of these dances popularity decides their success .